I don’t know if information wants to be free, as in not having a financial cost, but I do know that it wants to be free, as in unfettered. The more data that’s mined and concentrated, the bigger the leaks will be. In a relatively unimportant example, the Houston Astros’ next-level computer database (which I blogged about earlier this year), has been compromised. From Barry Petchesky at Deadspin:

“Two years ago, the Houston Astros constructed ‘Ground Control’—a built-from-scratch online database for the private use of the Astros front office. It is by all accounts a marvel, an easy-to-use interface giving executives instant access to player statistics, video, and communications with other front offices around baseball. All it needs, apparently, is a little better password protection.

Documents purportedly taken from Ground Control and showing 10 months’ worth of the Astros’ internal trade chatter have been posted online at Anonbin, a site where users can anonymously share hacked or leaked information. Found below, they contain the Astros front office’s communications regarding trade overtures to and from other teams, as well as negotiations—a few of which actually led to trades.”